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Blind Faith

Ben Elton's vision of the future is horribly close to what we
already have.

Blind Faith

Author

Ben Elton

Genre

Fiction

Publisher

Bantam

Pages

320

RRP

$32.95

Trafford Sewell, the hero of this savage, hilarious satire, is
immediately reminiscent of Orwell's Winston Smith. Sewell, like
Smith, is in the early stages of revolt against the oppressive,
coercive and repulsive society in which he finds himself,
increasingly resistant to its mottos and slogans. The resemblance
is almost certainly deliberate but the difference is that Blind
Faith is very funny, whereas 1984 was not funny at all.

The London of this novel is overcrowded, subtropical and largely
under water, for we are in the era ATF, After The Flood.
Contraception and abortion are forbidden, though the effects of
this are offset by the criminalisation of vaccination, punishable
by death, so one child in two dies in infancy.

For this is an era of faith and belief; logic, reason and
science are derided. Naturally, few members of this society believe
the flood was the result of global warming; God did it, of course.
Elton seems unable to decide which he hates most, religious
fundamentalists or Americans. There is quite an overlap and in this
novel the Americanisation of his country has been done largely by
evangelical means and the televised spread of faith in faith.

What stays with the reader is a nightmare vision of a society
full of huge, almost naked people who only ever stop eating long
enough to ask aggressively "What's not to like?"

It is a society where privacy, irony, subtlety and beauty are
non-existent and where one is investigated by the religious elders
who run the country if one has a baby but fails to post the
"birthing video" online for public perusal.

Funny as it is, it's an extremely disturbing book and readers
are advised not to go anywhere crowded or to any fast-food outlet
or beach for at least 24 hours after finishing it. Elton's only
slightly futuristic society is horribly close to what we already
have and is in some ways already indistinguishable from it.

Blind FaithFictionBen EltonBantam200732032.9520118051198778682431-smh.com.auhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/book-reviews/blind-faith/2007/12/28/1198778682431.htmlsmh.com.auSydney Morning Herald2007-12-28Blind FaithKerryn Goldsworthy, reviewer<p>Ben Elton's vision of the future is horribly close to what we
already have.</p>EntertainmentBooksMagpieBooksReviewshttp://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/12/28/Blind_071228111459580_wideweb__300x466.jpg